Over 8,500 Afghan refugees leave Pindi

RAWALPINDI:

As part of the ongoing crackdown against undocumented migrants of Afghan origins in the country, 8,572 people opted for voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan after the November 1 deadline, the Rawalpindi police said Sunday.

Around 1,500 people were rounded up and shifted to temporary holding centres. Of those, at least 216 individuals were deported.

Those with proof of residence (PoR) card or the Afghan Citizen Card were allowed to stay in Pakistan, police sources said.

Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer (RPO) Syed Khurram Ali told The Express Tribune that those with valid documents should not worry even as complaints emerge of police harassing those legally permitted to stay in the country.

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The divisional authority identified 15,335 illegal foreigners in Rawalpindi. Of those, 11,852 were in Rawalpindi district, 2,500 in Attock district, 1,170 in Chakwal and 813 in Jhelum.

Since the deadline, 8,572 foreigners have returned to their home country. Of those, around 5,000 returned from Rawalpindi, 1,786 from Attock, 1,145 from Chakwal and 641 from Jhelum.

As per police records, there were 6,451 illegal foreigners still present. Of those, 6,116 were said to be in Rawalpindi, 310 in district Attock and 25 in Chakwal.

Police added that the 1,500 foreigners who were arrested included 736 from Rawalpindi district, 404 from Attock, 249 from Chakwal and 111 arrested from District Jhelum.

The RPO revealed that among those who were deported, 127 were from Rawalpindi district, 80 from Attock and 12 from Jhelum.

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Ali said that 194 foreigners were released in Rawalpindi division after they showed valid documents. The authorities also released 292 foreigners who were arrested in Attock, 81 in Jhelum and 249 refugees were released in Chakwal.

Ali said another 310 foreigners taken to the holding centre in Rawalpindi division were released after they produced Afghan Citizen Card. Similarly, 20 people were released from Attock and 59 from Jhelum on Afghan Citizen Cards.

Another 129 Afghan citizens detained in Rawalpindi over expired visas were released after verification from the UNHCR representative.

Viral videos

A slew of videos and testimonies have been shared on social media in which Afghans have claimed that they were facing harassment despite having valid documents. There have also been reports of Pakistani Pashtuns being rounded up with authorities accused of stopping the media from visiting holding centres.

In one video shared by journalist Shahid Qazi, an Afghan man is seen burning his PoR card. The man said that police raided his residence in Murree on November 1 and he was forced to pay a bribe of Rs300,000.

He said he was leaving Pakistan voluntarily due to the brutal treatment meted out to him by law enforcement authorities.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2023.